Schools Chancellor Harold Levy and the Board of Education were reeling yesterday from charges city schools are rapidly spiraling out of control because of lax hiring practices, sexual abuse and violence.

The bombshells include:

* The revelation that officials hired a 60-year-old mentally ill psychiatrist as a high-school biology teacher, even though he twice lost his medical license for a series of bizarre acts. They include making sexual advances to patients, exposing himself in front of a female doctor, and firing a gun in his office.

Despite his record, officials hired Franklin Simon – even though he had no teaching certification – to work at Murry Bergtraum HS in lower Manhattan.

Special Schools Investigator Ed Stancik charged that board officials are opening the school door for perverts because they don’t adequately screen applicants.

Simon lied about his past, and didn’t submit a résumé or even put his Social Security number on his application, Stancik said.

* Washington Irving HS teacher James Yeh, 52, was bounced from his job for sexual misconduct after allegedly fondling and grabbing a number of female students, Stancik said. Police have asked school officials to file a complaint so they can arrest him.

Yeh was accused of similar conduct by a student in 1998, but the chancellor’s Office of Investigation closed the case without action.

* The principal of IS 59 in Queens is under fire for allegedly preventing investigators from interviewing two girls who police said were groped by a 14-year-old boy on June 13.

The case was referred to the chancellor’s investigative unit.

* A parent who claims to be infected with AIDS bit a teacher at PS 398 in Brooklyn on Tuesday following a dispute, the United Federation of Teachers said.

“I have a teacher who is scared to death. This is disgusting,” said UFT president Randi Weingarten.

Levy vowed to tighten up the board’s screening process for new hires.

“My staff is working with the state Education Department and the state Health Department to find a way to access the status of professional licenses by Social Security number,” he said.

Board President Ninfa Segarra said she’s surprised and disappointed at the hiring of Simon, and she promised to follow up.

“This report seems to indicate that we haven’t done the adjustments in the system we thought we ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^had,” Segarra said.